Rain fury: NH-73 caves in at four spots in Panchkula

The highway, which is being converted from two-lane to four-lane, gave in near Ramgarh, Manakya, Bhanu and Billa village.

punjabUpdated: Jul 28, 2017 12:05 IST

HT Correspondent Hindustan Times, Panchkula

At Manakya, a bridge was coming up. A road constructed six months back was being used. The storm water pipes used to go under it. But on Thursday, the flow of water was so high, that it gave in. (Sant Arora/HT )

Traffic on National Highway-73, which goes from Panchkula to Yamunanagar, was halted as the road caved in at four places due to heavy rains on Thursday.

The highway, which is being converted from two-lane to four-lane, gave in near Ramgarh, Manakya, Bhanu and Billa village.

The traffic got halted and had to be diverted via Morni, which is further connected with Raipur Rani and also via Barwala-Dera Bassi road.

Trucks lined up near Nada Sahib, which were going towards Kala Amb industrial area in Himachal Pradesh (HP). First the road caved in near Nada Sahib but soon it was filled up with gravel. The crater near Ramgarh was 5-6 feet deep. National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) filled that up with gravel.

At Manakya, a bridge was coming up. A road constructed six months back was being used. The storm water pipes used to go under it. But on Thursday, the flow of water was so high, that it gave in.

Earthmover deployed to commute children

The problem got magnified when schools got over. An earthmover was deployed to commute children past the flooded area. The parents and schoolchildren could have walked over an under construction bridge only with the help of stairs.

The road also caved in near Indo Tibet Border Police (ITBP) force’s Basic Training Centre at Bhanu and near Billa village. Anil Kumar, resident of Ramgarh, has three children. All of them study at a school inside Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force’s Basic Training Centre at Bhanu. “As soon as I got to know that the road had caved in, I reached their by my car. Then I climbed over the upcoming bridge with the help of stairs. I brought my children with the help of JCB machine,” he said.

Shanta Kumari, resident of Manakya, said she was to go to Raipur Rani to meet her relatives but had to shelve her plan. People also raised question mark over the quality of material being used.

Project director, NHAI, Jaswinder Singh, said by the evening the traffic was restored. On quality of road which caved in, he said, “The road at Manakya was for only diverting the traffic. The bridge is intact.”